Internal combustion engines typically use common rail injectors as a direct fuel injection system to pump fuel pulses into a combustion chamber. A commonly used injector is a closed-nozzle injector which includes a nozzle assembly having a needle valve positioned adjacent a nozzle orifice for resisting blow back of exhaust gas into the pumping or metering chamber of the injector while allowing fuel to be injected into the cylinder. The needle valve is disposed within a nozzle cavity and is designed to be biased towards a closed position to block fuel flow through the nozzle orifices. There is a continuing need for an improved closed nozzle injector design that provides, for example, more efficient manufacturing options and/or enhanced performance features when compared to existing nozzle injector designs.